Nicolas Sarkozy has never been one to shy away from challenges, and his fervent speeches show more than ever that he is willing to engage in all sorts of manipulations, dramatizations, and approximations. He proceeds unashamedly, sometimes with exaggeration.
When one aims for the highest public responsibilities, one should avoid dreamy visions, pompous phrases, and the presumption of being the only person in the world mystically endowed with a kind of esoteric knowledge used to deliver generally apocalyptic predictions and offer magical solutions.
Nicolas Sarkozy has a fondness for Nice, and Nice has a fondness for him. In fact, nearly all the local political leaders are devoted and loyal to him. Last night, in his stronghold, the candidate for the primary charmed his core fans with a slew of jokes.
It was not really a land to conquer for the former head of state, but rather an opportunity to further flatter his supporters a few days before the first round of the right-wing primary, even as all the polls consistently predicted his rival Alain Juppé would win the election.
On this stage he knows well, having held a rally there during the last presidential campaign, Sarkozy put on a show for an audience already supporting his cause. Without glancing at his notes, he alternated between jokes and bold statements, even if it meant going off on tangents.
Unsurprisingly, François Bayrou—who has the misfortune of supporting Alain Juppé—is one of his favorite targets. His competitors in the primary are also subject to criticism, being reminded of their past as… ministers.
As for his successor, let’s not even mention him: “The terrifying failure of François Hollande,”
Regarding himself, he advocated for “a strong changeover” and highlighted his “energy,”
His problem is that, when he speaks about himself, he relies on an IQ he must imagine to be enormous, to the point of making it his personal ideology, when it should be more a matter of ego pathology.
